Yesterday, I had a summary of two reports from The Hollywood Reporter and Us Weekly, regarding the Sundance premiere of Katie Holmes’ latest movie, The Son of No One. It’s not really a “Katie Holmes movie” though – it’s a cop drama where Katie has a supporting part against the leads, Channing Tatum, Juliette Binoche, Tracy Morgan, Al Pacino and Ray Liotta. Still, according to THR and Us Weekly, it was Katie’s poor performance that created an exodus of critics and executives, as well as out-right snickers towards Katie’ performance. Except according to Roger Friedman, that didn’t happen. At all.

It must be a funny alignment of the stars if I have to come to the defense of Katie Holmes. But she and the film she’s in here at Sundance–”Son of No One”–have been smeared and maligned by the Hollywood Reporter and US Weekly. The result is dozens of automated pickups by blogs, causing a search nightmare based on total falsehoods. I was at the press screening of Dito Montiel’s “Son of No One” on Monday. No one chuckled or snorted when Katie was on screen. No one walked out of the film. There was no exodus, no running for the doors. No “collective groan.” The Hollywood Reporter–now a tabloid effort–reported this even though the writer of the piece was not present. Then US Weekly regurgitated the material from THR. The THR editor, Lindsay Powers, came from tabloid manufacturer of celebrity fictions. So you can’t believe a word of any of it.

“Son of No One” is Dito Montiel’s follow up to his very good “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints.” Like “Saints,” this film stars Channing Tatum. He gives a powerful performance as a crooked cop. Katie plays his wife. Montiel in a sense has made his “Prince of the City,” very much influenced by the legendary Sidney Lumet. This is Katie trying to break her image of a goody two shoes. She is perfectly fine. Her character curses several times in the first fifteen minutes. No one laughs. Her delivery is impeccable.

…It does seem to me that Katie Holmes was attacked by THR and then US Weekly. Do they hate her because she’s married to Tom Cruise. We can’t really pile on Katie for her personal choices masked as movie criticism. We may not agree with her personal life, but that’s another area completely.

[From Friedman’s column in Showbiz 411]

So Friedman came to the Kate-Bot’s defense, and called out The Hollywood Reporter and Us Weekly. THR still hasn’t issued anything in the way of a correction or apology, but Us Weekly did publish this report last night:

Katie Holmes still has fan in her corner. The day after the actress’ performance in Sundance flick, The Son of No One was panned — reports said there was a mass exodus before the end of the film — one of the crime drama’s producers is coming to her defense.

“Despite Katie’s few scenes, she was fantastic in the role!” producer and sales agent Cassian Elwes tells UsMagazine.com. “We’ve already received three offers on the film. We’re 100 percent behind her and the entire cast’s performances in this film.”

As for reports that people left before the credits rolled, Elwes explains a projectionist mistakenly turned on the lights two scenes before the end of the film.

“There wasn’t a mass exodus,” says Elwes. “The people who did see it, liked the film.”

That includes Holmes, 32. “She loves the film and she’s great in it,” Elwes tells Us. “She’s very upset by this attack.”

[From Us Weekly]

Jezebel asks if there’s some kind of concerted smear campaign against Katie, and if so, why and by whom? Is it because of the Church of Scientology? Is it because “Hollywood hates Tom Cruise”? Is it because people spin grand conspiracies about Xenu, auditing, lobotomies, marriage contracts and barley water? Or is it because, in Jezebel’s words, “The truth is probably far less salacious. Whether it’s deserved or not, Holmes has developed a reputation for being a not-so-great actress who looks to her husband to prop up her career. It fits better with that narrative to say her acting in Son of No One sparked a walkout, and that’s a much juicier tabloid story than a report about a bunch of people quietly enjoying a movie.”

Personally, I think it’s a little bit of both – there probably some people who take pleasure in the ongoing disaster of Katie’s professional career, and some people are even trying to help that along. But I also think Katie continues to suck as an actress, and she’s just getting parts because of Tom’s dwindling influence, and that pisses people off – rightly so.

Photos courtesy of Fame.